Liquid branched siloxanes having low viscosity, low vapor pressure and high silicon content are useful for the semiconductor industry such as the manufacturing of micro processors, flash memory, visual display devices and optical devices (light emitting diodes), etc. For example, Michael Lin et al. reported a UV curable liquid branched siloxane named Si-14 for the use in nano imprint lithography [1, 2]. They concluded that Si-14 functionalized with methacrylate as UV cross-linkable groups showed promising properties as planarizing layer on topology, patternable material and etch barrier. This is because of its properties (low viscosity 15 cP, low vapor pressure 0.8 Torr at 25° C., low UV shrinkage 5.0%, and with a high silicon content of 33%). However the synthetic route for Si-14 requires many steps as shown in FIG. 2. The reaction gave low yield (<20%) and took several days (>12 days) to synthesize, therefore the route was not amendable to scaling to become a commercial product.
What is needed is a simpler synthesis that provides high yields in a short amount of time, and results in useful compounds.